A Brief Account On Yoga and Its Benefits

Are you looking for reasons to try yoga in order to get a fit and fine health and mind? Before delving into the subject in details, let us first understand what yoga means. Yoga covers a wide area in the fitness and health spectrum.

What is yoga: Yoga refers to the union. Some explain it as the union with God, the connection between the egoistic self to the divine self. It is a unique combination of mental, physical and spiritual disciplines and practices that was originated in ancient India. It is one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophical traditions.

There are different yoga practices, schools, and goals in Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism.

Yoga as an art and science: Yoga is simultaneously an art and a science. It is a science as it provides the practical methods controlling the body and the mind. It helps you meditate deeply. It is also an art because until sensitively and intuitively, yoga will only produce superficial results. Yoga works with the energy in the body, through the science of energy control. Yoga teaches you how to control your breath and thus increase your focus and awareness level.

The benefits of yoga: Scientific studies have proved that yoga can prevent diseases and help you recover from them. Now let’s focus on how yoga improves your health.

Flexibility increase: Improved flexibility is one of the primary benefits of yoga. In your first class of yoga, you might not be able to touch your toes while doing a stretch standing. But over time, you will notice that there is a gradual loosening in your body and eventually, you will be able to do the yoga postures that were seemingly impossible for you previously. Several diseases might crop up owing to the inflexibility of muscles and connective tissues. Yoga alleviates these problems and makes your limbs flexible.

Increases muscle strength: Strong muscles are always good. They are more beneficial than simply looking good. They help you not to be bogged down with back pain and arthritis. When you build your body strength with yoga, you balance it with flexibility. This is different from going to the gym and lifting weights.

Posture perfect: Our head is just like a bowling ball, big and heavy. If you want it to stay in a balanced position, then you need yoga. Yoga keeps your head balance right and reduces unnecessary pressure on your neck and back muscles. Poor postures can cause intense pain in the neck, back, various body joints.
Every time you practice yoga, you take your joints through their complete range of motion. This is a great solution to prevent degenerative arthritis and mitigate other disability. Neglected areas of cartilage can wear out easily if proper sustenance is not provided through yoga.

Improves bone health: We all know that weight lifting practices give you healthy bones and keep you away from osteoporosis. In yoga, many postures are there that require carrying of one’s own body. Yoga reduces the number of stress hormones in the body. This way the calcium quotient in the body is maintained.

Increases flow of blood: The importance of relaxation exercises in yoga is undeniable. It ensures a clear circulation of blood all over your body. As a result, more oxygen reaches your body cells. Yoga also boosts the percentage of hemoglobin and red blood cells. It helps carry oxygen to your tissues. The clot-promoting tendency of blood is also reduced this way. Thus, yoga also prevents diseases like cardiac arrests. Swelling of limbs for heart and kidney problems are also prevented through the regular practice of yoga.

Improves immunity: When you stretch your muscles through different yoga postures, you increase the drainage of the lymph, a fluid rich in immune cells. This helps the lymphatic system destroy cancerous cells, prevent infection and dispose of the toxic waste products of your body.

Increases heart rate: It is very important to get your heart rate into the aerobic range. Increased heart rate has two main benefits. Firstly, it reduces the risk of sudden strokes. Secondly, it can relieve you from depression. Especially, the Ashtanga postures are famous for increasing heart rate and taking it to the aerobic range. Studies have proved that yoga practices lowers the resting heart rate, increase the endurance of your body and boosts the capacity of taking oxygen during exercise.

Reduces blood pressure: If you are patient of high blood pressure, you can get great results through yoga. According to a British medical journal, that postures like Savasana is associated with a 26-point drop in blood pressure.

Regulates adrenal glands: Yoga drops the level of cortisol. Increased cortisol causes depression, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, and other diseases. Therefore, it is vital to keep the cortisol level under control through yoga.

Uplifts mood: Yoga is a great stress buster. If you are feeling low or sad. Long term practice of yoga increases the level of serotonin in the body and helps us gain a steady positive mood.

Burn calories: Yoga means various moves and twists. By trying different yoga postures, you can burn calories. It sets your emotional and spiritual dimensions right. Also, decreases you’re eating digestive problems. Yoga inspires you to become a conscious eater and be aware of your body.

Improves your focus: Through yoga, you learn a very important lesson that is to focus on the present. It improves your reaction time, memory, eye-hand coordination. Various corporate companies across the globe hold regular yoga sessions to increase the workability and focus of their workers.

Conclusion: Yoga is a process of relaxation. It is the key to a healthy life. Yoga has a bounty of benefits to offer. But in order to get its outcomes in its entirety, you need to have a good teacher. Casual approach and inexperienced guide can be dangerous.